Investigating the Structural Organization and Expression of the Animal GenomeReport of the 2021 Laureate of the Lomonosov Grand Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences

摘要

Messenger RNA of animal cells has been discovered, and a method for its isolation in pure form has been developed. It was established that it has the same nucleotide composition as DNA (dRNA). The nuclear dRNA contains both the newly formed mRNA precursor, pre-mRNA, and the mature mRNA. Pre-mRNA has a significantly higher molecular weight than mRNA. The content of dRNA comprises from 1/3 to 1/2 of the entire nuclear RNA. The organization of dRNA-containing nuclear nucleoprotein complexes was disclosed: a long dRNA molecule is wound on the surface of a series of globular multiprotein particles (informofers), which are connected by RNA bridges. One informofer has an RNA segment 700 nucleotides long. This previously unknown structure of nucleoproteins provides a sharp reduction in the linear dimensions of RNA while maintaining its accessibility to various protein factors. During further research, mobile genetic elements of animals were discovered. It has been established that almost all moderate repeats of the genome, that is, about 10% of the latter, are mobile elements of different sizes. Two main types of mobile elements in Drosophila and mice have been identified and characterized.